COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Double Old Thumper is the big brother of the British Grand Champion beer Old Thumper Extra Special Ale, which was created in 1979 by veteran British brewer, Peter Austin, founder of the Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England, and brewed in the United States solely by Shipyard. Shipyard¹s Master Brewer Alan Pugsley trained at the Ringwood Brewery before moving to the United States 25 years ago. Double Old Thumper was created by Pugsley and has 11.2% alcohol by volume. "Despite its strength, this beer is a great example of balance between malt and hops lending to a surprising drinkability," noted Pugsley.

Double Old Thumper has a brilliant deep copper hue and spicy hop aroma with a complex malty finish featuring a dry Simcoe Hop bite. This beer pairs well with short ribs, lamb, hearty stews, and casseroles.

When Pugsley was brewing Old Thumper at Ringwood Brewery in the 1980s it was considered a very strong ale and, by English standards, it still is. "When we started brewing Old Thumper under license at Shipyard in 1994 it was considered strong in the United States too," Pugsley continued. "Double Old Thumper is literally twice the strength, twice the grist, and twice the hops of Old Thumper and, today, is considered strong and Old Thumper is just of average drinking strength. It¹s a funny old world!"
In homage to Old Thumper, the package features an illustration of two of the famous Ringwood boars heads.

Bottled (backlog). Ambery orange colour with a small white head. Aroma is sweet malts, some fruity and grassy notes along with mild ripe fruits and alcohol. Flavour is nectar, some alcohol, sweet ripe fruits and some sweet toffee as well. Tasty and a big time brew.

Brilliant deep copper with a thin rocky light ivory head. Lovely caramalty booziness with a herbal and peppery hop bite, a little bitter orange peel, and just the littlest bit of cocoa. Big flavor that’s on the one hand malty and boozy, but also remarkably balanced and drinkable. A little dry hop pepperiness and a little bitter orange peel round out a moderately leafy hop finish but accentuate the slightly British boozy biscuit malt. Semisweet maltiness and British leafy hops play wonderfully.

It took a second impression on this to pick up some subtleties. First impression was mostly imbalanced burning alcohol. As a big fan of the single Thumper, I’m surprised they can pull some of the malty goodness up at this ABV. This gets more exciting as it warms, and complex fruity flavors develop. Finish still has a bit of an alcohol bite, but it’s a pretty big beer!

22 ounce bottle into snifter; no bottle dating, but likely from the January 2011 initial release(282 10 bottle manufacture code). Pours hazy deep reddish copper color with a 2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big caramel, toffee, toast, brown bread, biscuit, nuttiness, light chocolate, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apple, cherry, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, fruity yeast ester, and earthy hop notes; with good strength. Taste of big caramel, toffee, toast, brown bread, biscuit, nuttiness, light chocolate, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apple, cherry, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Fair amount of earthy/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, toffee, toast, brown bread, biscuit, nuttiness, light chocolate, raisin, plum, fig, pear, apple, cherry, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and fruity yeast ester flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very smooth, creamy, and fairly slick/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice English barelywine style. All around good complexity, balance, and robustness of dark/bready malt, earthy hops, and fruit yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.

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